Fat suits, similar to this one from CostumeBox.com.au, will be trialled at a hospital in the UK.Source: news.com.au

Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit for Shallow Hal.Source: news.com.au

GWYNETH Paltrow, Tyra Banks and Vanessa Minnillo have all worn one

Now, in a sign that Britain is facing up to their obesity problem, an NHS hospital has purchased 'fat suits' to teach nurses and doctors how to handle - and empathise with - the morbidly obese.

The $1200 (Pound800) polyester 'bariatric suit' weighs just over a stone (6.3kg) and allows the wearer to fully experience the bulk of obese bodies by mimicking the proportions of someone weighing 28 stone (177kg).

British paper Mail on Sunday tried out the suit and soon discovered that simple tasks such as dressing or getting up from the floor can be considerably more difficult than those who are not obese might imagine.

The suits are being used in Leicester, where 350 patients weighing between 20st (127kg) and 51st (323kg) have been admitted to hospital in the past four years.

But even with obesity putting a $8 billion financial strain on the British health service every year, some critics say the equipment is an unnecessary luxury.

Local Conservative councillor Ross Grant said: "It is well intentioned I am sure, but I am a bit dubious about how effective and essential this suit is for the NHS.

"Obesity is an issue that does need addressing, but money might be better spent on frontline services that directly tackle the problem."

Nick Howlett, who has run Leicester's patient mobility unit for 15 years, says the suit helps staff learn how to lift obese people safely and assist them with walking and sitting up in bed.

He adds: "As it is inappropriate to practise the procedures on real obese patients, it was very difficult to visualise how you would move somebody of that size.

"Now this suit means we can have a model where we can practically demonstrate all the safe lifting procedures."

But the suit also has another purpose: allowing the doctors and nurses of Leicester to experience the challenges of being obese first-hand.

"Empathy for obese patients can be a really difficult problem," Mr Howlett added. "Obesity is the last acceptable discrimination and we do actually find that can be an issue.

"The fact is, staff really don't know how to cope. But wearing this suit will aid their understanding of the struggles faced by the obese.

"It is my belief that this is going to have a tremendous effect on the way we view and treat the patients."

I took up the challenge of trying out the bariatric suit at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. Wearing it, my 9 ½ st (60kg) build was transformed into the frame of a much larger patient.

"I should warn you, this suit may make you feel a little uncomfortable after a while," cautioned Mr Howlett as he buttoned me up.

This was something of an understatement. It is difficult to exaggerate how becoming three times wider impacted on almost every aspect of my mobility.

I struggled to walk as the extra padding round my legs forced me into an awkward and slow waddle.

Spatially unaware of my new width, navigating a narrow bathroom proved even more of a logistical nightmare as I found myself uncomfortably wedged between a sink and a hand-dryer.

I lost my balance putting on my shoes, as I could not see my feet over the folds of polyester 'fat', while my attempts to dress myself in a pair of custom-made jeans proved an impossible farce.

However, the ultimate trial came when I was challenged to demonstrate what Mr Howlett described as the 'nightmare situation', when an obese patient falls out of their bed on to the floor.

As I lay immobile and sweating, struggling to get to my feet, the novelty of my newly acquired bulk had most certainly worn off.

It took me more than ten minutes of intense struggling and laboured breathing, legs flailing in the air, to eventually roll over from my back and heave my considerable bulk upright - an experience that proved both uncomfortable and quite humiliating.

Mr Howlett was adamant that the product would prove its worth to staff in almost every field across the NHS trust.

He said: "I started this service in 1998 and the first year I probably saw one patient above 32 stone (203kg). Fifteen years later, we are now seeing somewhere in excess of 150 patients of this size every year."

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